negotiators have been working around the clock to broker a peace deal. morsi sending the biggest sign that positive results are coming in the next few hours. now al jazeera is citing sources and saying that a ceasefire will be announced in cairo this evening. israeli radio reporting that the ceasefire could be declared during secretary clinton's visit to jerusalem. she left from southeast asia where she has been traveling with the president. her diplomatic mission is the most direct engagement yet in these negotiations. >> her visits will build on the engagement that we've undertaken over the last several days including the engagement by president obama and secretary clinton with leaders in the region and to support a de-escalation of the violence. >> president obama himself was on the phone in the early hours of the morning trying to prevent the conflict from escalating into a ground war. explosions and smoke clouds dotted the skyline in gaza again as soon as the sun was up. more than 100 people are now

confirmed dead there with dozens of children among those killed. more rockets from gaza landing in southern israel today. one sent flying in the direction of jerusalem. israeli police said more than 60 rockets were fired by midday. thousands of israeli reservists remain gathered at the border with gaza. israel threatening to take the next step if if hamas doesn't stop the rocket fire into israel. the next step ground troops moving in. we want to bring in ambassador dennis ross, served as adviser to four presidents and is a mideast diplomacy analyst. it's great to have you with me today. big news coming within the last hour, al jazeera reporting that the ceasefire is going to be announced this evening in cairo. now egypt will reportedly be agreeing to oversee this plan which is said to include an easing of the crossroads into gaza. so peace appears to be eminent but what do you make of the transparency of what the outline

of it deal is? >> well, i think we still need to see it implemented. having spent a lot of time in the middle east, done a lot of negotiations, one thing i know about this part of the world, nothing is concluded until you actually see it carried out. it's one thing to talk about it. it's something else to do it. so let's actually see the ceasefire take hold. what i'm hearing is that by midnight their time, which would be around 5:00 our time, that's when it might actually take hold. so if it does, that will be the first step. then the question will be how real is it, number one. number two, what are its real elements? if there is some easing of movement into gaza, what are the commitments that hamas is undertaking to ensure there will not only be no fire out of gaza but also is there a commitment at all in terms of not replenishing the arms that continue to go into gaza? so there's a lot of questions that still need to be sorted out but let's see if the first step is taken. >> the egyptian president

mohamad morsi says more is expected to come out. does this signal. >> he has undertaken the job of brokering an end to this conflict and he's demonstrating that he, more than others, is actually prepared to play an increasingly leading role in the region. and one of the reasons he's doing it is because of egypt's needs, first and foremost, egypt has to address what is a collapsing economy. notwithstanding the fact that hamas is basically an outgrowth of the muslim brotherhood, which is the party president morsi used to be a part of. the fact is in the end he is focused more on egypt's needs than necessarily hamas' needs. >> when we talk about the -- you're talking about the money, we're talking about what the u.s. gives, $2 billion annually, the imf has $4.8 billion in the

reserve fund to help egypt and senator lindsey graham over the weekend was very forceful saying we are watching you. they know full well that aid will be cut off if they don't act accordingly trying to broker a peace deal, correct? >> i would say it's more than just trying to broker a peace deal. i think it's fulfilling its obligations. in the first sense its international obligations. one thing the president morsi understood is if hamas continued to do what it was doing and if the pressures on him led to him breaking the peace treaty with israel, then it wasn't just american assistance that would be put at risk. it would be all the assistance internationally. all the investment egypt would need. so he's putting egypt's needs first and foremost and that suggests that actually the economic imperfect it tiff is trumping the ideological imperatives and that's actually a positive sign for the future. >> with hillary clinton going to the region and with these positive signs that morsi has already put out there and we're

hearing different things from israeli radio as well as from al jazeera, what does that signal to you? >> well, i think the most important thing for secretary clinton is to make sure that the commitments that are being made are quite clear. there's no misunderstandings, and it's very important to reinforce those commitments so that the ceasefire that takes hold doesn't turn out just to be a lull before the resumption of fighting. i think that's the most important thing. secondly, i think it's very important that the secretary will not only be seeing prime minister netanyahu and president morsi but also she is going to see president abbas in ramallah. he's been the actor who is sort of on the outside looking in. hamas is trying to make themselves a centerpiece of the palestinians. hamas, it's one thing for them to conclude a ceasefire. the fact is they continue to reject israel's existence. it's important that the palestinian authority has a role to play and is relevant. the fact is president abbas has

had no influence whatsoever in what's going on in gaza. so having him also be part of the diplomatic scene becomes important again. >> and, sir, for everybody to understand the big tipping point here is for israel not to send in ground troops. hamas seems to be taunting them to the point of where they want that to happen which would then escalate this to a completely different level and then the neighboring countries might then do something. >> well, i think it's less likely that there's going to be an escalation from the neighboring countries. and i think hamas' taunts are actually far more rhetorical than real. the last thing hamas wants is for israel to come into gaza. the one thing that could threaten hamas' grip on power is that. i think they're trying to demonstrate that they somehow hasn't been defeated. the more defiant publicly the more it lacks as if they weren't the losers. >> ambassador dennis ross, great to have you with us today.

thank you so much. i want to bring in today's political power panel, joan walsh, democratic strategist doug bornell and msnbc contributor and republican strategist susan. gang, it's good to have you here. i hope all three of your voices are working better than mine. i'm struggling right now. doug, as we look at what's taking place right now with senator clinton -- excuse me, with secretary clinton going into the region and especially on the heels of benghazi, is there any way the administration would have sent secretary clinton there if they didn't think this deal was imminent? >> well, i think it shows they're deeply committed and engaged in trying to find a diplomatic solution here and, you know, this is exactly why the president selected senator lyclinton to be secretary of ste is for moments like this. these 3:00 a.m. calls, if you remember the 2008 campaign. i'm glad that we have both president obama and secretary of state there answering the call.

and clearly, you know, it's encouraging to hear some of this news. until there is actually a ceasefire announced we have to wait to see that but sending in secretary clinton is obviously a very -- is a sign that the president is using everything at his disposal. >> joan, during the campaign season, the president took heavy criticism for his leadership in the middle east, also this perception of a strained personal relationship with benjamin netanyahu. >> right. >> this diplomatic win would signal a fresh start for the second term, the second administration of president obama with israel, correct? >> i hope so. i'm not sure. i'm not terribly optimistic about the long-term prospects of any of this, thomas. but i will say i agree secretary clinton would not be going there if there was not almost certainly going to be a truce. i think what's really important here, actually, is her developing a relationship with president morsi. that this is his moment to make a difference on this stage, and

having a personal relationship between the secretary of state and president morsi that's more than just we have all this money and we can hurt you. i think these are the kind of intangible things you can only do in person and so that's one thing to look at in this trip. >> susan, do you agree with that and the fact morsi could not be defined as an ally just yet. >> but a partner. >> but a partner. >> yes. as long as we're holding that stick with that money, he can be. also, just going back into the politics a bit. president obama was criticized for how he handled egypt. if morsi turns out to be -- ends up doing the right thing, this will also put president obama in a much stronger position when had he talks about what needs to be done in the middle east. >> okay. let's move on because i want to talk about benghazi and the fallout that continues from that. susan, i want to start with you. 97 house republicans have sent a letter to the president to discourage him from nominating u.n. ambassador susan rice as secretary of state.

and this follows andrea mitchell's reporting yesterday that it was the intelligence community, not the white house, that changed talking points about the unclassified data that could be discussed when susan rice went out on the sunday talk shows to discuss what was known about the benghazi situation. is that something that republicans are choosing to ignore, the facts of that? they're trying to draft a letter like this to almost wreck her reputation before she is even nominated. >> and frankly it doesn't matter what the house of representatives thinks. they have no say in the process. this is more of a headline scheme, frankly. this is press release politics, which is the last thing we need right now. but what is important is to look at the white house did put her out there. she did her job. i'll give her that. she spoke with the talking points she had, what she knew. the fact is the administration to put her out there with misleading information and that's the clear case.

it was not a riot over some tape, a movie that was made. even senator feinstein agrees they have to follow that trail. why was the decision made to even put her there in the first place when really she shouldn't have gone out there -- the country wasn't ready to hear -- they weren't ready to give the country all the facts. they probably shouldn't have put her out there to begin with. >> i think we have to remember if you read her statement on that sunday, she always said this is the best information we have now. she left open that there were many questions and now we know that the stories were changing. it was mostly the cia changing the story. >> it's for political reasons. they had to answer it. >> they gave the best information that they had at the time. >> they shouldn't have put her on the talk shows. they could have done it from behind the podium. >> imagine if they hadn't talked at all then the story is they wouldn't answer any questions. >> if she were to reveal something more, tip the hand more, they would label her to be

unf unfit. >> incompetent. >> i'm not saying -- she is just an arm of the administration. let's make that clear. now if you want to talk about whether she should be nominated for secretary of state or not, this incident should not be the thing that prevents her nomination. >> right. >> if you have a problem with it, that's fine. but it should not be this. >> we agree on that. >> one thing susan brought up, headline politics. msnbc analyst karen finney wrote a piece for "the hill" talking about the potential nomination and the last part is what caught my eye saying the gop's continued focus on attacking the ambassador's use of talking points also appears to be personal. some have suggested the real issue could be a belief that ambassador susan rice has simply been promoted high enough. is susan rice becoming a scapegoat in all of this? >> oh, she's obviously becoming a scapegoat, thomas. susan and i agree, it shouldn't be about these talking points. it should be about her record. she has a long record in international work, first with the clinton administration and now has served very well this administration. and so the idea that they're acting like she is some kind of

secretary who -- some kind of junior person who had no business being out there, they're also acting like, quite honestly, she is incompetent and that she, her talking points weren't very bright which rings some bells for many women and people of color that there's some way that she is being treated in a condescending, demeaning way, when she is a brilliant person and a rhodes scholar with a careerful of accolades and has plenty of accolad accolades. something she did under president clinton in africa or as u.n. ambassador, talk about that. but also to call her on the carpet and say she has to come on tv and apologize. what kind of humiliation are they looking for? >> doug, is this bringing the cart before the horse? >> to joan's point. what's rich is many of these senate republicans also voted to confirm by an overwhelming majority condoleezza rice to be secretary of state after obvious ly some missteps on the

intelligence that led to the war in iraq. and you never heard john mccain or senator lindsey graham back then. in fact, they defended her, and that was nothing at all like what's going on with ambassador rice. i do think it's unfortunate. the priorities here should be to find out what happened, bring those terrorists to justice, and make sure it never happens again. and, unfortunately, republicans are still act iing as though wee in the middle of a campaign and that's unfortunate. and incidents like this you r e rarely see them immediately politicized like this has and i think that's not a healthy way to conduct this investigation. >> all right, real quickly. i want to jump on to the other great talkers i have today 0. susan, to "the new york times" report that some inside the romney campaign are blaming new jersey governor chris christie the top romney aides say the governor's contributors there are, quote, furious with christie because of the fact that he was able to buoy up president obama because of the

sandy response. >> get over it. that's not what brought down governor romney. that's not why he lost the election. governor christie was doing exactly what he was supposed to do. and, you know what, they should keep -- they should stop this nonsense because these stories do not help the republican party. they should be quiet and let the party rebuild, rebrand. >> it's like saying at the end of the scoopy doo episodes, if it weren't for you meddling kids, minorities, women, gays -- >> can chris christie. >> if you didn't meddle with this. doug, the matchup of had headline talking about this possible matchup next year between chris christie and cory booker say iing that this woulde the match of the year. these two guys seem to be friends. they work together a lot on what they do for the garden state but that could be an epic matchup, a face-off like that. >> it would be the spotlighted match of 2013. and obviously cory book er has very well known profile. i think governor christie, you

know, look, i've been impressed with him certainly with his handling of sandy but also with some of the recent negotiations with the teachers unions in newark. so, you know, he seems to be moving more to the center. but it would be a very expensive, very, i think, energetic and i think entertaining race if it were to happen. >> and we're showing a video, a spoof video, the governor and the mayor made earlier in the year that was very funny. showed their humorous side and they are both very strong leaders for the state of new jersey. that's for sure. our power panel, my thanks to all three of you. several women lawmakers say the criticism directed to susan rice is sexist and racist. up next, i'm going to talk with one of those women, congresswoman karen bass. we want to know what you think. is karen rice a scapegoat for democrats or the republicans on this? black friday's here. sara has her list.

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susan rice should have known better, and if she didn't know better she's not qualified. she should have known better. i will do everything in my power to 0 block her from being the united states secretary of state. >> that was senator john mccain who has been leading a relentless campaign by republ republicans over the past week to block the potential nomination of u.s. ambassador susan rice to be secretary of state. now just yesterday 97 house republicans sent a letter to president obama. part of it said ambassador rice is widely viewed to either willfully led to mislead the public after the attack on the consulate in benghazi. the attack killed chris stevens

and three other americans. the gop letter goes on to say that we believe her misleading statements caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world. joining me now, though, is democratic congresswoman karen bass of california, a member of the house foreign affairs committee. she is among the democrats including president obama who have been defending ambassador rice. congresswoman, it's great to have you here. you are among a dozen democratic female members of the house who held a news conference last friday saying the criticism of ambassador rice smacks of sexism and racism. this letter that has come out now with 97 seconds on it of house members does include female elected leaders. it also does include minority elected leaders. why do you feel that it smacks of sexism and/or racism? >> first of all, thomas, let me begin by offering my condolences to the families, because they're going through their first

holiday season without their family members and yet their family members are being used as a political football and i am very saddened by that. i have to tell you that, you know, we have many house democrats who are signing a letter, within 4 hours close to 60 democrats who signed a letter in support of susan rice. i think the idea you would call someone who has over 20 years of diplomatic experience, a rhodes scholar, has her masters in ph.d. from oxford, undergrad from stanford, unqualified is language many people consider racial coding. and so regardless of who signed the republican letter, what i reamly think the issue is about, less about race and more about the disorientation of the republican party post-november. >> do you think the administration put ambassador rice potentially in the cross hairs of having to deal with more intelligence, more investigation coming to light that would then be compared and

contrasted to original statements? >> no, i don't think they put her in the cross hairs and just as your previous guest said, if you look at her talking points, her talking points clearly said, more is probably going to come out. and what she was giving was information she had at the time. and you can imagine because one of the things senator mccain said is that she should have had a classified briefing before. well, if she had had a classified briefing before and if she had made any slight misstep, then she would be accused of leaking information. and so i believe she was in a rock and a hard place, and i think that she did the best she could at that moment. and i want you to make a comparison here. there were five talk shows that she did compared to 20 plus years of diplomatic experience and given her educational background, i don't think there's any question that she is more than qualified to be the secretary of state and represent our country as she has so beautifully done as the u.n. ambassador. >> and do you think a lot of

this, and i asked this of my pal before, putting the cart before the horse, because she has not been nominated. there have been discussions around the possibility of her nomination as secretary of state but there's nothing firm about that. >> well, and that's also why i call it secondary to the disorientation after the election. i think the republicans are in disarray. they are firing at everybody every day. firing at their own, whether it's the governor of new jersey or presidential candidate romney, and susan rice. and so i think it's all reflected of that. i think we need to get on with the business of our country. i don't believe that there is widespread concern or sentiment about susan rice around our nation. i believe the number one concern of our nation is, number one, how are we going to bring about jobs and, two, whether we're going to resolve the fiscal problem before the end of the year. those are the issues on people's minds. >> representative karen bass, thank you for taking the time with us this morning. i appreciate it.

breaking news we need to pass along right now on msnbc. we're learning former senator warren rudman pass ed away yesterday from complications of lymphoma. the republican from new hampshire was 82 years old. just ahead, federal authorities bust four americans for allegedly plotting to commit a violent jihad. plus, foul play suspected. authorities say natural gas is not to blame for the house explosion that killed two people and destroyed several homes in indianapolis. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.

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homes is now a homicide investigation. police have yet to name a suspect. no more nudity in san francisco. city officials will vote later today on an ordinance that could permanently ban public nudity but there would be certain exemptions. apparently chimps and orangutans can experience midlife crisis like humans. the suggestions or the root cause of mid-life crisis could be biological. and the 2012 treetoper for the rockefeller center christmas tree was unveiled this hour. it includes 25,000 crystals and weighs a whopping 550 pounds. quite a mega star. another business win. i'll set up the video conference to iron out the details. this cdw cloud collaboration powered by cisco

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soon. egypt's president a major player in the negotiations just said that hours ago, quote, aggression on gaza would end today. meanwhile, secretary of state clinton is now heading to that region with stops planned in jerusalem, ramallah, and cairo. this as rockets continue to go back and forth between israel and gaza. martin fletcher is live for us in tel aviv. and martin has been covering this for us. bring us up to speed on what's happening. your reporting has been extensive firsthand. >> reporter: hi, thomas. there's been a continued firing in both directions. 30 rockets fired in one israeli town today. one person was injured. otherwise little damage. the real is it's pretty clear that a ceasefire has been agreed and it will be announced in gaza, cairo and jerusalem

probably within the next few hours, not necessarily at the same time in each place but it's clear that that's what's happening. secretary of state hillary clinton coming to jerusalem tonight and a whole slew of arab leaders are coming to gaza. the fight iing will be over witn a few hours and hopefully will last a long time. what we're told is there is an agreement for the fighting to end from both sides, and then the details of the agreement are still to be worked out. the key point, though, it looks like the fighting is over. no israeli ground invasion of gaza. >> martin, as you say, the details are yet to be announced, but what are the inferences of what hamas would be looking for? what are the expectations of what we'll learn later? >> reporter: well, hamas has been demanding at the end of its

isolation in gaza, they want israel to lift the blockade against gaza which is not quite accurate. israel has been allowing dozens of trucks and humanitarian aid and food in every day. but hamas wants that to be lifted. also, they want the barrier between gaza and egypt to be permanently opened. so their key point is to end the isolation of gaza. they want an end to the fighting. to israel's policy of killing its leaders and the whole other -- there's a lot of other stuff to be negotiated about the future of hamas. the thing they most gain, i think, from what's been going on is the fact that so many arab leaders have been landing and arriving in gaza honoring and showing respect for hamas which before was dismissed by the united states as a terrorist organization but is now achieving great recognition in the arab world and from israel's point of view, what they want is not only a quick fix but a

short-term ceasefire, the long-term ceasefire: >> nbc's martin fletcher live for us from tel aviv. martin, thank you very much. yesterday on our show in our why it matters series we were talking about why israel matters so much to the united states. why america's support for israel is equally vital within the middle east. during that conversation we were congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, just to share with everybody in your tweet you mentioned how it values the v values shared by america. tell us about the shared values and then your reaction to knowing that we are hours away are ceasefire president leadership.

a resolution. and a resolution quickly. but as was just mentioned, the importance here is that the israel on on the heads cease. israel is our most important ally in the middle east. 11 minutes after she was created as an independent nation and a sovereign nation, that has been the strongest relationship that we've had worldwide in addition to our other strong allies like and other allies. so it's because of the shared

rael and the united states have been intertwined and remain intertwined today. >> one thing, though, as we secretary of state hillary clinton on her way to however, over the weekend senator john mccain had this to say about urging peace there and the deal that could be broken. take a listen. >> i find someone even as high-ranking, frankly, as normer president bill clinton to go and be the negotiator. i know he would hate me for saying that but we need a person of enormous prestige and influence to have these parties sit down together as an honest broker. >> so, congresswoman, not to dismiss the experience of a former president but is it the secretary of state, secretary clinton, the proper choice to go is.

our secretary of state is -- i think president clinton would be the first to agree that secretary clinton is absolutely the right person at the right time to help make sure we can bring these hostilities to a conclusion and bring the two sides back to the table to begin to stop launching rockets into southern israel, launching rockets that and to recognize israel's right to exist. leader everything to avoid answering a question directly put which was will hamas, which is a terrorist ly operates as one, recognize

can netanyahu. israel's right to exist needs to be voiced by its neighbors? >> yes, yes. consistently conditions down, the palestinians table ready to recognize israel's right to exist. that they also need to make sure we ultimately israelis

support. with palestinian to israel with congressional delegations i know ttacks, the ceaseless, endless violence that has been coming. 1,200 rockets just this year gaza by hamas. attack. would do. seconds of time for the violence to end and time for the peace

process to prepare to move forward. thank you morning. you. workshop saying kevin clash has resigned over sex allegations calling this a distraction. there's now a second accuser who has filed a lawsuit today of an inappropriate sexual nature. last week a young man had accused clash of an underaged relationship but then recanted those allegations. now he says that he was pressured to recant that story and is sticking by the original accusations. sesame workshop calls this a sad day. kevin clash resigning there. well, if you think the battle over taxes in congress is bad, wait until the fight over entitlements begins. the worst candidate of 2012, the campaign season, might be giving you a big hint here. we're back with more about "the washington post's" big pick. [ whistle blows ]

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the clock is ticking to the so-called fiscal cliff. a wave of tax hikes and spending cuts set to go into effect. with congress out because of the holiday, talks between the president and congressional leaders are not scheduled to resume until after thanksgiving. when they do resume, there's one question that could lead to a sticking point. tax now or tax later? joining me now is ezra kleine, a columnist for "the washington post." you like to call it something else, the austerity crisis. we have to brand this so people know exactly what we're talking about. let's talk about what you raefr to as tax now, tax later on the question you pose. let's start with the possibility of tax now which is the preference of the president's team and something that they say that they are not going to back away from which is basically to implement tax hikes for the top earners. what advantages does tax now provide the president? >> right.

so the white house wants to let the bush tax hikes expire for the rich, incomes over $250,000. that would raise about a trillion dollars over the next decade. now what republicans want and the other alternative here is to agree on some kind of framework for tax reform and the reason the white house doesn't want to do that is one thing they came away thinking after their 2011 negotiations to speaker boehner, you kind of can't trust the republican approach to tax reform, they talk a big game, and then you get into the details and it's gimmicks around how you count the amount of m money you'll get. maybe assumptions about the growth that may or may not come and sometimes simply blustering. mitt romney and paul ryan talking about how to pay for their plan but not a single deduction or exclusion they would change in order to pay for it. so from the white house's perspective the way to do this, the right sequencing is let the bush tax cuts expire, pocket the money. do tax reform over the next y r

year. if you come up with a plan, if you can get that plan ratified, raising the same amount of money and it's reasonable, we can talk about it. we can do it through tax reform. first the money, you make sure it's real and you lock it in. >> is that the whole reason why this negates a conversation about tax later even though mitch mcconnell has taken to the microphones to acknowledge the money is on the table? >> right. so for them the idea that revenue is on the table is, for the republicans, revenue is on the table means tax reform. they want to do it and the democrats don't buy that revenue is truly on the table. they don't buy when republicans say revenue is on the table and democrats say revenue is on the table that both sides are talking about the same thing. let me make one other point. they began to convince me that republicans may just not be willing to die on this hill anymore. so this has definitely been speaker boehner's opening bid but there appears be to be the

outlines of a solution coming clear in which boehner is going to sell letting the bush tax cuts for the top income expire to his people as a down payment on tax reform. the way that would work is this. that change will raise about $80 billion in 2013. so that is a democrat's down payment, what they get, that $80 billion. democrats by the same token will give up $80 billion in spending cuts, be it from discretionary spending or entitlements to match what republicans are giving them on taxes and as such republ republicans will emphasize not that they have let the bush tax cuts expire but both sides have contributed and now we have this kind of framework for a larger bargain to work on through 2013. >> a larger bargain, round one taxes, round two entitlements. msnbc policy analyst ezra klein, thanks. we'll be back with more.

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a look at some fd headlines

from this morning. politico leads with gay marriage takes next steps. activists in the seven new states where they hope same-sex marriage will be legalized. thursday new black friday. the arizona republic's headlines. retailers opening their doors on thanksgiving to capitalize on holiday shopping. the chicago trib, hostess, union's agree to mediation. the twinkie maker agreed to meet with lenders and union leaders. the judge pushing for this to save more than 18,000 jobs. >> alan west concedes. time for the poly side bar. the tea party favorite from florida admitted he could not can overcome the 1900 vote deficit. not enough to trigger a recount of all votes. he waged a two week battle over votes in st. lucie county. "the washington post" makes its pick for the worst candidate of 2012 and chose texas governor rick per. their reason, he entered the race the frontrunner, but then this happened.

>> i would do away with education, the -- >> commerce. >> commerce. and let's see. i can't. the third one i can't. sorry. oops. >> oops. marco rubio is a senator, not a scientist. the republican from florida would not give a direct answer about how old the planet earth is. here's what he told qg -- he went on to say i think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. scientists have determined the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. we want to wish vice president joe biden a happy birthday. the vp celebrates the big 7-0 today. the president wished him a happy birthday by tweeting that picture. they say 70 is the new 50. we'll see how it goes.

that's going to wrap things up for me. see you back here in at 2:00. i'm filling in for tamron on "news nation." i will see you tomorrow, be new jersey congressman pill passcell, jack rice, talking about the defense of marriage act and what a second obama administration means for the supreme court and ucla school of law's gary gates on the lgbt community's role in the election. "now" with alex wagner is coming your way next. >> secretary of state hillary clinton is heading to the middle east today amid reports a cease-fire may be declared this evening. will clinton be the hand that gets pen on painer? we will have a live report from gaza. speaker boehner tapped paul ryan to help get his party in line ahead of deficit talks. where in the world is eric cantor? we will talk with luke russert and martin bashir about whether or not the gop can get its frogs in the wheel barrow. >> "new york times" national

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